


Desires Made of Deadly Pretends

by edema_ruh



Series: Delivered from the Blast [13]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Betrayal, Blood, Drinking, Drunkenness, Guns, Gunshot Wounds, Injury, Plans, Superheroes, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 12:40:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7051906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edema_ruh/pseuds/edema_ruh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything nearly gets better (but ends up actually worse).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Desires Made of Deadly Pretends

Finding Montparnasse after returning to the nightclub was the worst part of Grantaire's night – and that included almost being killed by Gavroche's doppelganger and his minions. 

When Grantaire finally found the man, though, he was passionately making out with a guy on the floor behind the barstool (why or how they had gotten there was beyond Grantaire), and the cynic had to shout Montparnasse's name several times before he finally broke the kiss and looked up at the cynic, eyes glassy and lips swollen. The cut on his lower lip was badly bruised, looking like it was about to burst open again any second. 

"We gotta go", Grantaire announced, waiting for Montparnasse to get up from the floor. He didn’t. "Come on, we have to get back to the-" 

"I'm a little busy, in case you couldn’t tell", Montparnasse said, barely slurring. 

"I can tell and I don’t give a shit, we're not here for this", Grantaire rolled his eyes, leaning down to grab one of Montparnasse's arm and pulling the man upright. Montparnasse let out a pained groan, the sudden movement probably upsetting his wounds. 

"Ugh, asshole", he muttered, finally standing up and patting his clothes as if to remove any possible dust. "Sorry, doll, I have to go now. See you around?" He told the man who was still on the floor, looking up at them in confusion, but before he could even finish the phrase Grantaire was already dragging him away. "Got what you needed?", he asked the cynic as soon as they exited the bar. 

"Yes. Gavroche told me some useful information, and I have set up a meeting with him tomorrow to discuss how we'll rescue my friends", Grantaire said, finally letting go of Montparnasse's arm as they walked down the street side by side. 

"Oh, you're welcome by the way", Montparnasse said, intertwining his arm with Grantaire's. "I bet that phone call saved your arse". 

"It was part of the plan", Grantaire said, pulling his arm away from Montparnasse's and awkwardly shoving both hands in his pockets. 

"You look stressed out", Montparnasse commented, tripping on his feet but regaining balance before Grantaire had the need to help him. "I thought you'd be all happy, after learning how to save your friends". 

Grantaire didn’t answer, looking away from Montparnasse and shutting his lips tight. They walked in silence until the crook broke the silence again. 

"I'm guessing blondie fucked you up just like he did to me. Except you don’t have as many bruises". 

Grantaire shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, trying to hide the fact that they were shaking. Montparnasse noticed, and a grin grew on his face. 

"He probably liked you, then", Montparnasse continued. "He didn’t like me as much. What did he do to you?" 

"Shut up", Grantaire said, through gritted teeth. He did his best to forget what had happened that night. If he thought about that, he would be doomed. If he thought about what Enjolras had said, what he had done- 

No. That hadn't been Enjolras. His Enjolras was locked up in a facility, probably being experimented on, needing his help. His Enjolras would never have done that. His Enjolras was good, and passionate, and kind, and caring, he wasn’t that... That... 

"Oh, I see", Montparnasse continued. "From that look on your face, I can imagine what he's don-" 

"Shut the fuck up, Montparnasse", Grantaire growled, breathing harshly. He started walking faster, eager to reach the hostel and tell Combeferre what he had learned and stop thinking about what had happened and just get the fuck out of this godforsaken world as soon as he could. 

"You can run away from me but you can't run away from whatever he has done to you", Montparnasse shouted behind his back, a tinge of humor on his voice, unable to keep up Grantaire's pace due to the pain on his ribs. "Sooner or later you'll have to deal with it, and accept it. I already have", he leaned on the wall to rest, pain increasing with every breath. If Grantaire had looked back at him on that moment, he would be able to see in his green eyes that that wasn’t true. 

Grantaire arrived at the hostel, being as quiet as he could, and knocked on his room's door. In a few seconds Combeferre opened it, recognizing their previously set knocking pattern. He frowned when he realized Grantaire was alone. 

"Where's Montparnasse?" Combeferre asked, as Grantaire passed him to enter the room. 

"He's coming", Grantaire sighed, falling against the bed, which creaked from the sudden weight. "He was being a pain in the ass so I rushed forward". 

"You shouldn’t have done that", Combeferre reprehended. "He shouldn’t be left alone. He could be followed". 

"Fine, I'll go get him", Grantaire rolled his eyes, getting up again. Combeferre stopped him with a hand on his chest. 

"Did you manage to get any information?" 

"Yes", Grantaire said. "And a meeting with Gavroche tomorrow. So we can start working on a plan to break into the facility". 

Before Grantaire could make it to the door, someone knocked on it. Combeferre and Grantaire shared a look; it hadn't been the secret knock. 

"C'mon, open up", Montparnasse cried, voice muffled by the closed door. "I don’t remember the stupid secret knock". 

Combeferre sent a wary look towards Grantaire, who nodded briefly. He had both hands outstretched, ready to engage in an attack if necessary, when Combeferre opened the door, revealing an exhausted Montparnasse leaning heavily on the door frame. Grantaire lowered his hands, pulling Montparnasse inside and helping him sit on the bed as Combeferre closed the door. 

"Thanks for leaving me behind, jackass", Montparnasse grumbled, shrugging Grantaire's hand away. 

"If you hadn't been an asshole I wouldn’t have left you behind", Grantaire raised an eyebrow. 

"You two can save that for later", Combeferre interrupted, arms crossed. "Are you ok? Does anything hurt more than it should?" He asked Montparnasse. 

"My ribs are really sore", Montparnasse replied, slowly raising his legs to the bed and leaning back, an arm passed over his upper torso. "Like really really _really_ sore". 

Combeferre nodded, grabbing the first aid kit and fishing a pill out from the bag. He handed it to Montparnasse, fetching him a cup of water too. 

"No more wandering around", Combeferre instructed. "You've done your part. For now, you'll rest and heal until we find a way to get back to our world". 

Montparnasse didn’t say anything, just leaning back on the bed and staring straight ahead as if pensive. 

"How did it go with Gavroche?" Combeferre asked Grantaire, who rubbed the back of his neck. 

"He hates me", Grantaire said. "And he tried to kill me. But he'll comply". 

"How so?" 

"He told me what we needed to know about BL", the cynic sighed, sitting on the edge of Montparnasse's bed. "This whole power thing started in our world because the BL facility exploded and everyone in the hit zone was affected, right?" 

"Right", Combeferre nodded. 

"Gavroche told me that the BL from this world was running a lot of not-very-popular tests, just like in our world. Except that in this one, they used people". 

"Human experimentation?" Combeferre frowned, and Grantaire nodded again. 

"There was never an explosion in this world. All the super humans here were experimented on and gained their powers like that". 

Combeferre let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing both eyes with one hand and dislodging his glasses. 

"No one really knows for sure how the Amis from here were formed – they don’t even call themselves the Amis – but one day, there was a break out from BL's main building and on the next week, E-Enjolras was fighting this world's Montparnasse over the control of this city. Montparnasse lost, of course, but E...Enjolras still let him handle the "dirtier things", as h-he called, such as the drug dealing and the prostitution. 

He... nobody actually knew what he wanted, but not too much later the director of BL was found brain dead on his apartment. And then a lot of people knowingly connected with BL started to be found dead, under several different circumstances... Electrocution, impalement, split skulls... hypothermia", Grantaire sent Combeferre a look. The man was looking at him with wariness. "The truth is that no one but the Amis know what truly happened inside BL, but there's a lot of speculation. And no matter how many people these Amis killed, there was always someone taking charge of BL. And they started to develop technology to annul the Amis' superpowers, so they could finally re-capture them". 

"But why recapture them? To kill them? Why were they experimenting on humans to give them super powers in the first place?" Combeferre frowned. 

"No one really knows. But I don’t doubt they were trying to create a super army, but then the... _subjects_ found a way to escape before being completely brain washed", Grantaire shrugged. 

"Yeah, but wait a second", Montparnasse interrupted. "This Gavroche kid thinks you're this world's Grantaire, right? Why would he tell you all that? I mean, if only the Amis know what happened inside that facility, _you_ were the one to supply him information". 

"Yeah, the kid is clever", Grantaire commented. "I told him that BL erased parts of our memories on a recent attack to our headquarters. I doubt he believed me, though, but since you told him to help us, he didn’t ask any questions". 

"But what about the BL facility where they're holding our friends?" Combeferre asked. "Is there any way we can get in and break them out?" 

"That's the tough part", Grantaire said. "The facility is heavily secured, and I believe it will be even more secured now, since they know they didn’t catch the both of us and that we will probably return for our friends. So the only way to break them out is to either send someone we trust in, we can be going ourselves". 

"That still sounds risky", Montparnasse commented absentmindedly. 

"That's why I'll be meeting Gavroche tomorrow", Grantaire explained, ignoring Montparnasse. "He says he can infiltrate some of his boys there, in exchange for something". 

"What does he want?" Combeferre asked. 

"He didn’t say", Grantaire shook his head. "He says we'll discuss this tomorrow". 

"Where will this take place?" 

"On the same sewer I met him today", Grantaire responded, ignoring the way Combeferre's eyes widened at the word sewer. "And you can't come with me". 

"The hell I can't", Combeferre scoffed, but Grantaire looked at him with seriousness. 

"You can't, he thinks it's just me and Enjolras". 

"Well? Then tell him I'm in this too". 

"He's already suspicious, Combeferre. He kept wanting to know why we wanted to break into the facility, and I didn’t tell him. The amnesia story sounds fake even to me, I doubt he believed it for a second. This whole thing is risky enough, we can't let him know you're with us". 

"But we can't trust an unknown kid to do it either!", Combeferre retorted. "Plus, if he's as suspicious as you say he is, how can you be sure he won't call the real Montparnasse? How can you be sure this meeting isn't a trap?" 

"I can take care of myself, ok?" Grantaire replied with annoyance, not looking Combeferre in the eye. "I don't need you or anyone to protect me. And I won't risk you, apparently you're way more well known than I am in this world, and like I said, Gavroche thinks this is just me and E-Enjolras. You will stay here to watch Montparnasse until I return with the plan ok?" 

"And what will that plan be?" Combeferre asked, still sounding reluctant. 

"Since we can't go in the facility itself to help them, I think the best course of action is to go straight to one of our friends and release them, so they can help Gavroche's kid. He said that his sources told him that the test subjects are kept heavily secured and locked inside special anti-power cells, just like the ones we built. They're not kept close to one another, which will make it easier to set one of them free before breaking their cover. The question is, who will we release first?" 

Combeferre stared at Grantaire pensively, sitting down on the edge of the bed as he took what Grantaire said in. 

"The poet boy is the obvious answer", Montparnasse mumbled, rolling his eyes. 

"We need to carefully decide", Combeferre responded, frowning in thoughtfulness. "Think about all possibilities. We can't just jump to conclusions". 

"Prouvaire is a good option", Grantaire stated. "We can't go for... for Enjolras first. He is known as the leader, he'll be the most heavily secured. Jehan can teleport and teleport people with him". 

"But he can't teleport to places he hasn’t seen before", Combeferre argued. "They would still have to look for the other cells and expose themselves". 

"Fuck... You're right. Then who?" Grantaire asked, desperation starting to rise within him. 

"Let's slowly go through each one of our friends", Combeferre instructed, pushing the glasses back up his nose before continuing. "Enjolras is out of the table. He would be the most useful to us, but as you said, he is also the most heavily secured and it would risk the entire operation to try to break him out first. Courfeyrac can phase through matter, which is quite useful. Bossuet has super speed, which could also be useful. Feuilly can absorb energy. If we let him go, he could cut off the energy inside the entire facility, which would unlock all the doors. Do you see where I'm going with this?" 

"I think I do", Grantaire said, exchanging a look with Combeferre. 

"Enlighten me", Montparnasse asked, arm still thrown over his eyes. 

"Tell Gavroche to set Courfeyrac free first", Combeferre told Grantaire. "Then, with Courfeyrac's help, they set Bossuet free. Bossuet can cover their backs while Courfeyrac releases Feuilly, who will cut the power off. Then, all the doors will be open, and the only thing still restraining our friends will be their ties to the bed. Bossuet can quickly undo them using his super speed, and then, all together with powers, they can break themselves out of there". 

"That sounds like a good plan", Montparnasse commented absentmindedly. "But how do you know that their powers will work inside the facility?" 

Combeferre looked back at Grantaire, but the cynic looked confident. 

"Gavroche didn’t mention anything about that. I'll ask him about it tomorrow, but I don’t think it should be a problem". 

"Well, if you say so", Montparnasse shrugged, sounding uninterested. 

"Does he have any idea of when this can happen? How will he infiltrate a child on such place without drawing suspicion?", Combeferre asked. 

"He didn’t give me a date yet, he'll probably do it tomorrow. We didn’t settle the details yet, but I don't think this will take too long", Grantaire explained. "All we can do for now is wait". 

"You're right", Combeferre nodded. "We must wait. Go to sleep, R, I'll- what's that?" He frowned, noticing the blood on Grantaire's neck. 

Granteire looked down, unable to see his own neck, until suddenly remembering that Gavroche's blade had broken the skin of his neck. 

"Oh, it's nothing", Grantaire shrugged, getting to his feat and heading to the dirty bathroom in large steps. "Just a misunderstanding we had before I could convince Gavroche I was on his side". 

Combeferre followed him to the bathroom, a stern look on his face. Grantaire didn’t look back at him as he cleaned the little blood on his neck, cut already closed. 

"I won't let you come with me", Grantaire said after what felt like an eternity of tense, silent staring. "You could but everything at risk. I can take care of myself, I know you're not used to, but try to trust me for once, will you?" 

"I'm aware that my presence may be dangerous", Combeferre said. "But I'll at least stay near this sewer to watch your back". 

"You can't leave this apartment until we finally go to the BL facility to free your friends", Grantaire retorted. 

" _Our_ friends", Combeferre corrected. "They're our friends, R. And I don't like the idea of you going there alone. Like I said, it could be a trap, and this Gavroche could have killed you yesterday in the blink of an eye. Be honest, you wouldn’t be able to kill him to defend yourself, even if he isn't the Gavroche we know from our world". 

Grantaire stared straight ahead at his reflection in the dusty mirror. He looked pale and exhausted, unhealthy even, and he could feel his fingers twitch in desire for a drink. 

"I'll do whatever it takes", Grantaire replied after a long time in silence. "I'll do what's necessary to get Enj—to get our friends back". 

"Even kill?" Combeferre inquired. "Even hurt a familiar face?" 

"That isn't our Gavroche, you said so yourself. He's on our side for now, but if you show up anywhere near that sewer he won't trust us at all, not even with Montparnasse's word. And you're being a hypocrite. You claim you want to go to watch my back, and judge me for my willingness to hurt Gavroche if necessary, but what exactly would you do if he did attack me? You would be as ready to hurt him as I am". 

Combeferre stared, lips shut tightly and forming a thin line. 

"Just trust me, for once", Grantaire said, finally looking at Combeferre. 

"Alright", Combeferre said. "But be careful. And if anything happens, just call me". 

"Ok", Grantaire nodded, passing Combeferre and exiting the bathroom. 

"Promise me", Combeferre asked, following Grantaire until they were back at the bathroom. 

"I promise you", Grantaire said, opening the small fridge and pulling out a beer can. He could feel Combeferre's glare, but didn’t dare to look back at the man. To see the wariness and disappointment on his eyes would be too much for Grantaire. 

- 

As Grantaire reached the sewer, he tried to sense the vibration of Gavroche or his boys inside. Just like on the previous night, he felt none. 

He climbed down the stairs and jumped to the floor, splashing water soundly and making the sound echo through the tunnels.  

"I'm here", Grantaire announced, looking around and one.  

"You're early", Gavroche's voice echoed through the sewer, but Grantaire could not know where it was coming from. 

"I figured the sooner we talked, the better", Grantaire responded, trying to sense anyone without success. 

Slowly, wet footsteps resounded from behind Grantaire, and the cynic turned around fast enough to see Gavroche slowly emerging from the shadows and approaching him. 

"Are you armed?" Gavroche asked, even though he probably already knew the answer. 

"No", Grantaire replied. "Are _you_?" 

"Let's get to business", Gavroche said, ignoring Grantaire's question. 

"Fine", Grantaire responded, despite wary. 

"I have a boy who can get in tomorrow night", Gavroche announced, from a safe distance from Grantaire. "But I will need to know how many people you'll want to break out, and their names". 

"And I need to know how your 'boy' will break them out", Grantaire replied. 

"He'll go in as the trash boy", Gavroche explained. "Everyone knows about BL experimenting on humans, but no one dares to do anything about it because there's never been actual proof of that. They only dispose of the facility's trash twice a month, and with a specialized company contracted by them. Usually they have the people from this third party to collect the garbage across the facility and take it off. This company is highly trusted by BL if they have the liberty to walk around their buildings like this, and luckily for you my boy knows someone in there. He can go in as the trash boy, but there's only a limited number of people he can set free without raising any suspicions. Which is why I need to know how many". 

"That would be ten people", Grantaire said, and Gavroche scoffed in disbelief. 

"Ten people? Are you kidding? There's no way that will work", he scorned. 

"I didn’t tell you the whole story", Grantaire crossed his arms. "This boy won't be breaking regular people out. They're superhumans". 

Gavroche stared at him, suspicion growing in his eyes. 

"Are you telling me Enjolras' merry band got captured by BL?" He asked, barely containing a smirk. 

"No", Grantaire quickly said, heart racing. "They're other superhumans, who have nothing to do with Enjolras or I". 

"That sounds like bullshit", Gavroche said, slowly approaching the cynic, one hand too close to his hip not to look suspicious. 

"Will you help or not?" Grantaire asked. "Your boy will only need to release one of us and guide him to the next room, and then he's free to leave before drawing any suspicion. That's all". 

"And Montparnasse has agreed to this?" Gavroche inquired, eyes completely wary now. 

"I wouldn't be standing right in front of you if he hadn't, would I? If you want me to, I can call him again" Grantaire shrugged. 

"Fine. Give me the two names, and I'll give them to my boy. Tomorrow will be the second trash taking day, so if we miss this window, we'll only have another chance next month. But he'll only let them out of their cages. Getting out of the building will be up to them, and to you". 

"Tell your boy to find Courfeyrac's cell. Make sure the boy tells him that he's with me, Grantaire, and leads him to Bossuet's room. Then, it's up to us". 

"Fine", Gavroche said, pulling out a pen from his pocket and scribbling the names on his palm. 

"Do the facility has any device that can annul the superpowers?" Grantaire asked. "Because if that's the case, we'll need a whole new plan". 

"No, not that I know of", Gavroche said. "The boy will be there tomorrow at 11 p.m. You'll need to be there to help your friends out. The gates are electrified and secured, but I'm sure you'll figure something out". 

"I will be there", Grantaire nodded. 

"Then we're done here", Gavroche said, walking back into the shadows but not tearing his eyes away from Grantaire. "I hope I never see you again". 

"Gavroche", Grantaire called, but the boy continued to sink deeper into the shadows. "How is it possible that I can't sense you?" 

Gavroche never replied, and after seconds standing alone in the dark, he decided to go away. 

- 

Grantaire was lying on the grass beside Combeferre and Montparnasse, in a safe distance from the fences surrounding the facility. It was 10:50 now, and the trash taking company would arrive any minute now. 

They couldn’t take out the guards behind the fences before the boy was inside, which was why they were waiting, lying as low as possible not to be seen. Under no circumstances was Montparnasse supposed to be there with them, but if everything went right, they were to go back to the headquarter where they first woke up as soon as the Amis were freed. Grantaire would reopen the portal to their world and they would return; but if Montparnasse stayed at the hostel, there would be no time to go back for him. So there he was, lying uncomfortably on the grass and ignoring his aching ribs. 

The truck finally arrived fifteen minutes later, and Grantaire cracked his fingers in preparation. 

"I will try to emit a vibration strong enough to make them pass out but not enough to kill them", he told Combeferre. "It shouldn't draw much attention and won't make any noise. But I have to get close to them. If I get captured, don't come for me, do you hear me?" 

"Grantaire-" 

"Promise me, Combeferre", Grantaire asked, taking the man's hand and staring deep into his eyes. 

"We need you to open the portal", Combeferre said, unsure of what else he could tell Grantaire. 

"I'm sure you'll figure out a way", the cynic said. "Just don't come back for me". 

He got up from the floor and was ready to run towards the fences when Combeferre called his name, making him look back. 

"You know, for someone who claims to be as cynic as you are, you're doing a great job fighting for freedom", he said. "Enjolras will be proud". 

Grantaire didn’t say anything, too taken aback by Enjolras' name. He turned on his heels and took off. 

"He's damaged", Montparnasse commented after a few seconds of silence. Combeferre turned to stare at him. 

"What do you mean?" He frowned. 

"He loves this Enjolras guy, but whatever it is that his doppelganger did to him, it changed the way he sees blondie. He's probably traumatized, but too afraid to admit that even to himself. Their relationship is probably ruined". 

"But he isn't damaged", Combeferre protested. "He will get through this, they both will". 

"Maybe", Montparnasse shrugged. "But I don’t think you will". 

"What?" Combeferre asked, but just as he turned to properly look at Montparnasse, the man pressed a gun against Combeferre's chest. 

"Sorry about this", Montparnasse said, and pulled the trigger. 

**Author's Note:**

> Cliffhangers are my guilty pleasure  
> (Also, sorry for taking so long to update. Writer's block sucks, and so does my personal life).  
> Kudos and comments make me happy, constructive criticism is always appreciated, and you can find me on edema--ruh.tumblr.com


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